M&A OCM Lead at Cognizant in New York, New York

Job Description:

Position Summary:

The M&A OCM Lead – NA is a member of the M&A OCM team, reporting to the Global M&A OCM Lead, and part of Cognizant’s Corporate Development function. The candidate will lead the change management efforts for transactions of various sizes and levels of complexity in the Americas. A detail-oriented partner, the candidate must have strong OCM expertise along with organization and planning skills to manage tasks effectively and ensure deal activities are completed as expected across all impacted functions.

The candidate’s responsibilities will be to:

1. Understand and support the overall M&A culture, change management & communications strategy to ensure a good employee experience  

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the enterprise M&A change management strategy and its application across deals


• Possess an understanding of change management practices and application to the M&A lifecycle


• Support the Global OCM Lead in developing and updating Cognizant’s M&A OCM Framework   


• Drive the completion of communications, change management and culture integration activities across functions

1. Deliver day-to-day project management support for culture, change and communication services across all Americas transactions

• Partner with Corporate Development, Cognizant and acquired company business leaders and functions to plan and monitor progress of change activities


• Develop and manage project documents and status, providing insights and key messaging where appropriate; perform quality control to ensure accuracy and consistency


• Along with the Integration Management Office, engage functions in regular meetings to track progress and identify risks


• Monitor risks and issues, and escalate to the Integration Management Office, as needed  


• Manage multiple deals simultaneously and resolve conflicting priorities and objectives

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Apply Cognizant’s M&A change framework and tools consistently across multiple Americas deals at any given time


• Partner with Corporate Development integration team and corporate functions to define timelines for change management programs across multiple deals to ensure timely completion of critical tasks and realize deal value


• Lead the day-to-day project management of culture, change and communication activities across functions to support timely completion of critical activities and identify issues and risks


• Support monitoring of established metrics to regularly assess change activities with the Global M&A OCM Lead and the corporate development, business and HR leadership on the deal


• Escalate change impacts, risks, and issues to the Global M&A OCM Lead and the leadership team on the deal and work together to identify appropriate mitigation solutions

Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience using a formal data-driven approach to monitor change program priorities and achieve results on time and to budget, including:
  
  
  • Strong understanding of how to plan, execute, and manage M&A culture, change management and communication programs
  
  
  • Identification and escalation of project issues, challenges, and risks
  
  
  • Cross-functional status reporting
  
  
  
  


• Effective collaborator with proven success in establishing and navigating business relationships across operational units and geographies


• Consistent attention to detail and ability to handle multiple tasks, prioritize accordingly and make decisions as required


• Comfortable working against aggressive timelines and objectives to achieve goals and close issues, while supporting effective communications to all impacted groups


• Demonstrated awareness and understanding of current digital, experiential, analytics, and agile competencies and tools


• Proven analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills

Qualifications:

• 5-10 years experience in M&A change management initiatives and transactions of various sizes and degrees of complexity. Specifically:
  
  
  • Experience prioritizing and managing multiple integrations or deal initiatives simultaneously in a fast-paced environment; or
  
  
  • Experience managing project management efforts for multiple projects concurrently through to completion in a complex corporate environment
  
  
  
  


• Experience collaborating across functions to meet deadlines and identify and escalate risks


• Highly collaborative contributor with:
  
  
  
  • Exceptional listening, communication (written & oral), facilitation, presentation skills
  
  
  • Ability to work in fast paced environment, dealing with ambiguity and resistance
  
  
  • BA/BS required; MBA or related graduate degree preferred